Talk about exclusive. 2016 Topps Transcendent Baseball is definitely the priciest item the company has ever put out. And a collector is going to need lottery-lik
e money to afford it.
How expensive? Try somewhere around $25,000.
Every box of this premium — no, super premium product — comes in its own polished aluminum briefcase, limited to 65 total (to honor Topps’ 65 years of marketing baseball cards). Each briefcase will include 52 autograph cards. Three of those cards will be 1/1s, plus a 1/1 box topper cut signature.
Each of the 65 cases will contain 50 gold-framed autographed cards from a checklist of 39 subjects (mostly baseball, but not all). Every case will have at least one autograph of each subject.
Transcendent is scheduled to be released the week of December 7, just in time for Christmas if you want t
o create a really optimistic holiday wish list.
Here’s what a collector 
can expect to find in a briefcase:
- 49 Transcendent Collection Autograph cards numbered to 52 or less
- 1/1 Anniversary Sketch card
- One other guaranteed 1/1 auto card
- 1/1 box topper cut signature card
- Complete set of 50 silver-framed base cards numbered to 65 and encased in an acrylic box
- Complete set of 65 Sketch Reproduction cards
- 1/1 Kris Bryant autograph card, featuring one of the 65 designs put out by Topps through the years
- An invitation to an event celebrating 65 years of Topps, featuring what the company calls “a very special guest.”
2016 Topps Transcendent Sports Autograph Cards
The majority of signed cards will be in the Transcendent Collection autographs. They will be on-card signatures and will be bordered by a gold metal frame. The cards will be numbered to no higher than 52, as a nod to Topps’ iconic 1952 set. Collectors also might find parallels in blue (numbered to 25), purple (10), black (1/1) and red (1/1). Some of the big-name current stars included in this list are Albert Pujols, Bryce Harper, Clayton
Kershaw, Mike Trout, Ichiro, Kyle Schwarber, Corey Seager, David Ortiz and Bryant.
Hall of Famers in the group includes Hank Aaron, Nolan Ryan, Sandy Koufax, Ken Griffey Jr., Johnny Bench, Pedro Martinez, Reggie Jackson and Frank Robinson. Soccer legend Pele also is among the signers, along with Daisy Ridley and John Boyega from the movie “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
The preliminary design for the Transcendent Collection appears to be a circular photo of the player with a generous spot beneath the photo for an autograph.
Historic Autographs
History lovers will enjoy the selection of 1/1 box topper cut autographs. Topps has populated the framed oversized cards with 16 presidents — George Washington, Grover Cleveland, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
Cut Signature Cards
This list is too delicious to ignore. In addition to presidents, broadcasters like Howard Cosell and Ernie Harwell will have cut signatures, along with actors/comedians/musicians like Robin Williams, Bette Davis, Christopher Reeve, Jerry Garcia, Tupac Shakur, Johnny Cash, Ingrid Bergman, Judy Garland and Audrey Hepburn. Non-baseball stars like Gordie Howe (hockey), Red Auerbach and Pete Maravich (basketball), Jesse Owens (track), Joe Frazier and Rocky Marciano (boxing) and John Unitas and Vince Lombardi (football).
There are baseball legends, too: Connie Mack, Roy Campanella, Stan Musial, Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Cy Young, Christy Mathew
son, Lou Gehrig, Honus Wagner, Joe DiMaggio, Dizzy Dean, Satchel Paige and Hank Greenberg are among the Hall of Famers included.
Topps is going all-in with Bryant, as the Cubs’ young star has his own subset. The Kris Bryant Top
ps History autograph set features 1/1 cards in the design of every Topps base set through the years.
The Anniversary Sketch cards are 1/1 efforts drawn by artist Mayumi Seto, who most recently did sketches for the 2016 Topps Museum Collection baseball set. The full set of Anniversary Sketch Reproductions is numbered to 65.
The set name is appropriate for the Topps Transcendent Collection, since this product transcends anything the company has ever produced. It’s incredibly expensive and definitely limited in scope. There is plenty of great product to be found, but quite obviously, it’s not for everybody. You can see what’s listed on eBay here.
Below is a checklist of players you can find inside Transcendent.
2017 TOPPS TRANSCENDENT PLAYER CHECKLIST
• Hank Aaron – Atlanta Braves
• Johnny Bench – Cincinnati Reds
• Barry Bonds – San Francisco Giants
• Kris Bryant – Chicago Cubs
• Roger Clemens – Boston Red SoxJeterTranscendance
• Carlos Correa – Houston Astros
• Bryce Harper – Washington Nationals
• Rickey Henderson – Oakland Athletics
• Ichiro – Miami Marlins
• Reggie Jackson – New York Yankees
• Derek Jeter – New York Yankees
• Randy Johnson – Seattle Mariners
• Chipper Jones – Atlanta Braves
• Clayton Kershaw – Los Angeles Dodgers
• Sandy Koufax – Brooklyn Dodgers
• Greg Maddux – Atlanta Braves
• Kenta Maeda – Los Angeles Dodgers
• Pedro Martinez – Boston Red Sox
• Don Mattingly – New York Yankees
• Mark McGwire – St. Louis Cardinals
• David Ortiz – Boston Red Sox
• Pelé – No Team
• Mike Piazza – New York Mets
• Buster Posey – San Francisco Giants
• Albert Pujols – Angels
• Daisy Ridley – Star Wars
• Cal Ripken Jr. – Baltimore Orioles
• Frank Robinson – Baltimore Orioles
• Alex Rodriguez – New York Yankees
• Nolan Ryan – New York Mets
• Ryne Sandberg – Chicago Cubs
• Kyle Schwarber – Chicago Cubs
• Vin Scully – Los Angeles Dodgers
• Ozzie Smith – St. Louis Cardinals
• Masahiro Tanaka – New York Yankees
• Frank Thomas – Chicago White Sox
• Mike Trout – Angels
• Omar Vizquel – Cleveland Indians
• Carl Yastrzemski – Boston Red Sox
Bonus incremental hits
• Ken Griffey Jr. – Seattle Mariners
• Jon Boyega – Star Wars
• Corey Seager – Los Angeles Dodgers
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